In the Middle
Whitnall Middle School Family Newsletter
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Whitnall Middle School Message |
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March 25, 2021
Hello WMS Families,
We hope that many of you had the opportunity to connect with your child's teacher during the March conferences. Please know that staff is more than happy to connect at any time through email or by phone.
We concluded March with two incentive days for students. The first was a special event held for students who earned the March Madness incentive for having zero behavioral referrals during a specified time period. The second is coming up this Friday and includes a game day in their Connect period. The latter incentive was earned by all students for collectively meeting established positive behavior goals.
After break, WMS will be starting Forward Testing.
A general testing information letter has been sent to all parents / guardians with information regarding the in-person testing dates at the middle school. A separate communication letter has been sent to parents / guardians of distance learners explaining their student's testing date, location, and materials to bring. For students to do their best, it is helpful if they get a good night's rest and a healthy breakfast in the morning.
We are in need of volunteers to fill officer roles for the 2021-2022 school year. The board consists of four positions: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. For the 2021-2022 school year we will have some open positions that we are looking to fill. If you are interested in volunteering or just getting more information, please email [email protected].
Wishing you a happy and healthy spring break!
Sincerely,
Chris D'Acquisto, Principal WMS
Ryan Relich, Assistant Principal WMS
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March Madness VIP event held for qualifying students as part of our PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Support) incentive. Games, prizes, pizza and wings was enjoyed by all. |
Ms. Roper's 6th grade social studies made bookmarks to "Bookmark These Women" to celebrate Women's History Month. |
8th graders have been working on Civil War Inquiry projects! |
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March 25 - Parent Teacher Conferences 4-7 pm
March 26 - Grades posted
March 26 - PBIS Incentive
March 29 - April 2 - Spring Break
April 5 - No Students Staff Development
April 6 - School Resumes
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Parent Teacher Virtual Conferences |
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We will be holding our Virtual Parent Teacher Conferences on Thursday, March 25 from 4pm-7pm. We are using a program called Sign-Up Genius to schedule our spring conferences. You should have received a link from your students teachers. There is one time slot allotted for each student. You are not required to set up an account with Sign-Up Genius in order to schedule your conference. However, setting up an account will allow you access to some advanced features such as receiving an email reminder and having the ability to change your conference time, if necessary.
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WMS will be administering the Forward Exam beginning on April 7th through April 29th. The Forward Exam is a summative assessment that provides information about what students know and can do in relation to the Wisconsin Academic Standards. Students receive a score based on their performance in each content area. 6th, 7th, and 8th graders will be tested in ELA and math. In addition, 8th graders will be tested in social studies and science. The test times have been reduced by a minimum of 70 minutes compared to the 2019 test.
A general testing information letter has been sent to all parents / guardians with information regarding the in-person testing dates at the middle school. A separate communication letter has been sent to parents / guardians of distance learners explaining their student's testing date, location, and materials to bring.
For more specific information about the Forward Exam, parents/guardians can visit the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction website and also view the Forward Exam Information for Families Brochure. Please have a fully charged Chromebook and ear buds. Please have your children rested and ready on the test dates. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Jim Gableman, WMS School Counselor, [email protected]
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Students will be reporting to their Connects for their incentive time the last period of the day. Yes, they will have Connect twice during this day.
Distance Learning students will have the opportunity to participate in the games during this incentive day. Students should check their email for a message from Mr. Relich.
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Summer School 2021 Announcement |
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The Whitnall School District has traditionally offered enrichment programs for all students at the elementary and middle school levels to help maintain academic engagement, as well as, credit recovery courses for our high school students. As a result of having to finish the 2019-2020 school year in a virtual environment starting in March, 2020, we realize that this created certain academic disparities amongst portions of our student population. In order to address these disparities we will focus on students who have learning gaps in reading and/or math. Therefore, the Whitnall School District will provide an opportunity for identified Kindergarten through eighth grade students to work in small reading and/or math intervention groups. Credit recovery courses will also be offered for high school students that are credit deficient.
More detailed information about these intervention groups and credit recovery courses will be shared later in April.
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This year all yearbook orders will be placed online, and the deadline for ordering is April 1st - please be sure to place your order before this time. When it’s complete, your yearbook will be delivered directly to school. For questions or additional information please email [email protected].
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If you've been shopping online for groceries lately, you can still earn BoxTops for your school, even if you don't have a paper receipt. Scanning tip: You can use the "Give Credit" feature in the BoxTops app to give credit to a specific child, teacher or classroom every time you scan a receipt. Just look for the star button! Feeling lucky today? Enter for a chance to win 5,000 Bonus BoxTops for your school. 7 schools will win!* March Sweepstakes information here.
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TRACK: Any 6th, 7th or 8th grader wanting to go out for track needs to be registered and have a current physical on file by April 12th. The season will start April 19th. YES this year we are having 6th graders on our track team. Any questions see Ms Sobush in guidance |
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Student Absences: .
Please report your students absence to the school by 8:00 a.m. You may use the Absence Reporting Form or call the attendance line at 414-525-8650. .
No call and no note will result in the absence being recorded as truancy. If a student has a medical/dental appointment, we encourage you to provide an excuse from the provider.
Appointments/Planned Absences
If your student has an appointment, special event, leaving early, etc. Please contact the office prior to the event so we can have your student waiting for you in the office. You may use the Absence Reporting Form or call the attendance line at 414-525-8650. . If the student will be gone more than two days, please utilize the Planned Absence Form
Infinite Campus is continuing to be used for progress reporting, attendance, and district messaging.
The Whitnall website provides online tutorials that can help families better understand how to navigate our online platforms. Please see the links below for more information:
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Virtual Learning Resources |
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Does your child's device need repairs?
The technology department is offering additional, evening times for students and families to swap out devices for repairs. Monday, November 16 and Monday, November 23 from 3:30-5:30 PM, the team will be available to swap out devices at the high school’s main entrance. Prior to coming, please submit a Help Desk Ticket by visiting https://helpdesk.whitnall.com/portal.
If at any time during instruction you are not able to access the classroom link, or lose access during instruction please contact the WMS main office at 414-525-8660 or [email protected] .
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EAT AND EARN EVENTS: TBD
UPCOMING MEETINGS:
April 14 (Slate of Candidates)
May 12 (Election)
June 9
Kelly Peters- President
Sara Torres - Vice President
Jennifer Radke - Secretary
Rebecca Freek - Treasurer
8th grade parents - we are in the process of forming a committee for 8th grade promotion at the end of the year. Looking for parents interested in planning a celebration for the students. With COVID restrictions we will need to be creative this year. If you are interested in participating, please send an email to [email protected].
WMS PTO Board of Directors - The PTO is currently looking for parents interested in participating on the Board of Directors for the 2021-2022 school year. The board consists of four positions: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. For the 2021-2022 school year we will have some open positions that we are looking to fill. If you are interested in volunteering or just getting more information, please email [email protected].
Your comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome and we're always looking for new faces. You can send us a message at [email protected]
We also encourage you to like our Whitnall Middle School PTO Facebook page.
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Please use the following information to determine whom to contact for different questions. If you have any questions on how to direct you call/questions please contact Ms. Dawn Jones, WMS Secretary at 414-525-8660.
Chris D'Acquisto Principal
414-525-8652
Ryan Relich Assistant Principal
414-525-8663
Building Daily Operations and Events/Teaching and Learning
Primary Contact: Chris D'Acquisto Email
Student Attendance and Behavior
Primary Contact: Mr. Ryan Relich Email
School Counselor
James Gableman
414-525-8654
School Psychologist
Nicole Lussier
414-525-8795
School Social Worker
Courtney Fleishmann
414-525-8655
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Whitnall Employment Opportunities |
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Whitnall Middle School open positions:
Food Service Kitchen Helper. 4 hours per day.
Noon Hour Supervisors
Did you know that you can find employment opportunities at Whitnall through WECAN and daily substitute opportunities through Teachers On Call? Consider taking a look at what's available!
(Athletic Coach, Custodian, Food Service, Kitchen Worker, Noon Hour Supervisor, Paraprofessional)
(Educators and Paraprofessionals)
(Educators/DPI Licensed Positions)
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Whitnall Middle School | 414.525.8660 | [email protected] | h ttps://www.whitnall.com/schools/middle/
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